 1984 1956  N/R, 91 min.
Genre: Sci-Fi / Drama / Romance / Thriller
Director: Michael Anderson
Cast: Michael Redgrave, Edmond O'Brien, Jan Sterling, David Kossoff, Mervyn Johns, Donald Pleasence, Carol Wolveridge, Ernest Clark, Patrick Allen, Michael Ripper, Ronan O'Casey, Ewen Solon, Kenneth Griffith, John Vernon, Walter Gotell
This story is based on George Orwell's novel about the future under a totalitarian government whose ruler, Big Brother, forbids individuality. Winston Smith (Edmond O'Brien) is a worker for the state who falls in love with another worker, Julia (Jan Sterling). Romance is forbidden, and Julia and Winston get help from fellow worker General O'Connor (Michael Redgrave) in a plot to overthrow Big Brother. Unbeknownst to Winston and Julia, O'Connor is a member of the Government and informs on them. They are captured and sent to rehabilitation centers where, under pressure, they betray each other. The story reflects Cold War thinking of the era. Remade in 1984.
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The Captive Heart 1946 N/R, 86 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Basil Dearden
Cast: Michael Redgrave, Rachel Kempson, Frederick Leister, Mervyn Johns, Rachel Thomas, Jack Warner, Gladys Henson, James Harcourt, Gordon Jackson, Elliott Mason, Margot Fitzsimons, David Keir, Derek Bond, Jame Barrett, Meriel Forbes
In his plot to escape the Gestapo, Czech patriot Karel Hasek (Michael Redgrave) takes the identity of a dead British officer, "Capt. Geoffrey Mitchell," and is jailed as a British soldier in a stalag. Now, he must send love letters to the deceased officer's widow Celia (Rachel Kempson) to ensure that his real identity will not come to light. After enduring many hardships and finally winning his freedom through repatriation, Karel must now square matters with Celia.
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A Christmas Carol 1951  N/R, 86 min.
Genre: Fantasy / Drama
aka: Scrooge
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst
Cast: Alastair Sim, Mervyn Johns, Hermione Baddeley, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Patrick Macnee, Peter Bull, Michael Hordern, Miles Malleson, Ernest Thesiger, George Cole, Francis De Wolff, Michael Dolan, C. Konarski, Glyn Dearman
This popular version of Charles Dickens' classic story "A Christmas Carol" stars Alastair Sim as the miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, whose life is turned around one Christmas Eve when he is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future (Michael Dolan, Francis De Wolff, and C. Konarski). After their visit, Scrooge reassesses his treatment of Tiny Tim (Glyn Dearman) and his family. Sim is great and makes this film a must for everyone.
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 The Day of the Triffids 1962  N/R, 93 min.
Genre: Sci-Fi / Horror
Director: Steve Sekely, Freddie Francis
Cast: Howard Keel, Nicole Maurey, Janette Scott, Kieron Moore, Mervyn Johns, Ewan Roberts, Alison Leggett, Janina Faye, Geoffrey Matthews, Gilgi Hauser
A meteor shower blinds all who look at it, but Bill Masen (Howard Keel) is spared. The shower also brought alien spores that quickly took hold on Earth, growing into huge, fast-spreading, carnivorous plants, and the blind people are easy targets. Bill searches for others who still have sight in order to save the Earth. Meanwhile, a couple (Janette Scott and Kieron Moore) works in a lighthouse on a scientific solution.
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Dead of Night 1945 N/R, 104 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Director: Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer
Cast: Mervyn Johns, Roland Culver, Mary Merrall, Frederick Valk, Sally Ann Howes, Anthony Baird, Basil Radford, Miles Malleson, Michael Redgrave, Googie Withers, Robert Wyndham, Ralph Michael
Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns) has very odd dreams AND they seem to relate to dreams of fellow guests at a British farmhouse. Each of the guests tell their bizarre stories. A classic chiller.
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The Devil's Disciple 1959 N/R, 82 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Guy Hamilton
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Janette Scott, Eva Le Gallienne, Harry Andrews, Basil Sydney, George Rose, Mervyn Johns, Neil McCallum
In this screen adaptation of the George Bernard Shaw play, Anthony Anderson (Burt Lancaster) is a minister during America's Revolutionary War who led colonists in an attempt to fool the British.
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Edward, My Son 1949 N/R, 112 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: George Cukor
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Deborah Kerr, Ian Hunter, Leueen MacGrath, James Donald, Mervyn Johns, Felix Aylmer, Walter Fitzgerald, Colin Gordon
A father's (Spencer Tracy) ambition carries his family to financial success, but in the process they suffer the tragedy of their son's suicide.
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Francis of Assisi 1961  N/R, 111 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Bradford Dillman, Dolores Hart, Stuart Whitman, Pedro Armendariz, Cecil Kellaway, Eduard Franz, Finlay Currie, Athene Seyler, Mervyn Johns, John Welsh
Bradford Dillman plays the beloved13th-century Franciscan friar who achieves sainthood.
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Jamaica Inn 1939 N/R, 99 min.
Genre: Action
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Charles Laughton, Leslie Banks, Emlyn Williams, Robert Newton, Maureen O'Hara, Horace Hodges, Hay Petrie, Frederick Piper, Mervyn Johns, Wylie Watson
Sir Humphrey Pengalian (Charles Laughton) is a smuggler in Victorian England, and problems arise when Mary (Maureen O'Hara) discovers that her relatives are involved in shipwrecks.
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The Master of Ballantrae 1953 N/R, 88 min.
Genre: Adventure
Director: William Keighley
Cast: Errol Flynn, Roger Livesey, Anthony Steel, Beatrice Campbell, Yvonne Furneaux, Felix Aylmer, Mervyn Johns, Charles Goldner, Ralph Truman, Francis De Wolff
This film is based (loosely) on Robert Louis Stevenson's story of the Scottish rebellion. Errol Flynn fights against the British monarchy–and his own brother (Anthony Steel) for the woman he loves.
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Moby Dick 1956 N/R, 115 min.
Genre: Adventure
Director: John Huston
Cast: Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, Leo Genn, James Robertson Justice, Orson Welles, Harry Andrews, Bernard Miles, Mervyn Johns, Noel Purcell, Royal Dano, Christopher Lee
Ray Bradbury and John Huston wrote the excellent screenplay for this film adaptation of Herman Melville's novel about Captain Ahab's (Gregory Peck) obsession with the great white whale.
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Never Let Go 1960 N/R, 91 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: John Guillermin
Cast: Richard Todd, Peter Sellers, Elizabeth Sellars, Carol White, Mervyn Johns, John Le Mesurier, Adam Faith, Noel Willman, David Lodge, Peter Jones, John Bailey, Nigel Stock, John Dunbar, Charles Houston, Cyril Shaps
Cosmetic salesman John Cummings' (Richard Todd) car is stolen by a gang of car thieves, headed by Lionel Meadows (Peter Sellers). Cummings tracks down the thieves and locates Tommy Towers (Adam Faith) who stole the car. Towers is beaten after Meadows discovers that he met with Cummings. Towers then gives inside information to the police, and, eventually, Meadows is arrested, and Cummings does recover his car.
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 The Old Dark House 1963  PG, 86 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller / Comedy
Director: William Castle
Cast: Tom Poston, Robert Morley, Janette Scott, Joyce Grenfell, Mervyn Johns, Peter Bull, Danny Green, Fenella Fielding, John Harvey, Amy Dalby
An American car salesman, Tom Penderel (Tom Poston), delivers a car to a spooky, old house where he finds the owner dead. The family members are very strange, and, as a storm rages outside, members of the family are killed one-by-one while Penderel tries to figure out who is responsible.
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Went the Day Well? 1942 N/R, 92 min.
Genre: Drama / Thriller
aka: 48 Hours
Director: Alberto Cavalcanti
Cast: Leslie Banks, Frank Lawton, Basil Sydney, Valerie Taylor, Elizabeth Allan, C.V. France, Mervyn Johns, Marie Lohr, David Farrar, Harry Fowler, Edward Rigby, Thora Hird, Norman Pierce, Johnnie Schofield, Patricia Hayes
During World War II, German paratroopers, led by Nazi officer Ortier (Basil Sydney), disguise themselves as British soldiers and make contact with Fifth Columnist Oliver Wileford (Leslie Banks). They are welcomed into a British hamlet. Their plan is to disrupt Britain's radar network. However, the village residents catch onto the ruse, fight back gallantly, and the mission fails.
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| 1. 1984 (1956)
2. The Bells Go Down (1943)
3. The Captive Heart (1946)
4. A Christmas Carol (1951)
aka: Scrooge
5. The Day of the Triffids (1962)
6. Dead of Night (1945)
7. The Devil's Disciple (1959)
8. Edward, My Son (1949)
9. Francis of Assisi (1961)
10. Jamaica Inn (1939)
11. The Master of Ballantrae (1953)
12. Moby Dick (1956)
13. Never Let Go (1960)
14. The Old Dark House (1963)
15. Once More, with Feeling (1960)
16. Romeo and Juliet (1954)
17. Went the Day Well? (1942)
aka: 48 Hours
In The News
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